Former St. Lunatic Claims Nelly Ripped Him Off

A embittered former member of Nelly's crew is claiming that the St. Louis rapper is guilty of unfair business practices for failing to pay his crew.

Slo' Down, who joined the St. Lunatics in 1996, performing as a masked hype man, says Nelly always took the lion's share of the group's earnings, but never gave him his fair share.

In a taped interview, which took place in front of a collection of Nelly-related gold and platinum plaques, Slo' explained, "I might f--- around and get emotional talkin' about how all that money was getting' split up, s--- was crazy ... N----s was eatin' and I wasn't one of them n----s. I was snackin' ... I was lunchin', havin' lunch every now and then, and n----s was havin' four course meals and ain't have s--- to do with s---."

Beyond just "snackin" when Nelly were stackin', the masked hype man said he was completely cut out of the rest of the group's earnings as well. "Whatever we did, Nelly got half of that s---, and the rest of the group split that up," Slo' Down further explained. "And when it came to splitting the money, I wasn't part of the rest of the group."

While Slo' didn't actually record vocals or write lyrics, his energy and stage presence definitely helped Nelly & his fellow St. Lunatics to get signed in 1996, soon after he joined the group.

"I ain't write no lyrics or nuthin but...I brought more to the stage show, to the image," Slo' Down concluded bitterly. "I was more part of the brand than the lyrics ... I think I was more appealing to the kids, the youth." Nelly has yet to respond to his former groupmate's allegations.

'City Free,' the new St. Lunatics album sans Slo' Down, is scheduled to be released later this year.